Spotify and Hulu team up to bring $4.99 subscription bundle to students

The Mercury News - By By Seung Lee The Mercury News

September 13, 2017 3:46pm

Sept. 12-- In the arms race for streaming supremacy, music and television services online have become more divided than ever.

But recently, Spotify and Hulu tried to rectify this issue by partnering with each other and providing a $4.99-a-month subscription to use both services. The plan will only be available for college students.

There are, obviously, some caveats but they are minor. While the subscription will include Spotify's advertisement-free Premium plan, Hulu will air ads under the plan. The offer is also available only in the United States and for undergraduate students only.

For those with a Spotify Premium for Students subscription, already priced at $4.99 a month, they can activate the Hulu plan. Those with a regular Hulu subscription can merge that with a student Spotify account.

Nonetheless, the deal brings together Spotify and Hulu, which are both under siege by bigger companies in their respective corners: Apple Music and Netflix.

"By bundling our enormous catalogues of content together in a single, highly compelling offer, we're making it easier for people to enjoy all of the TV and music they love, whenever and wherever they want," said Tim Connolly, Hulu's head of distribution and partnerships.

In their press release, Spotify and Hulu hinted that this is just the "first step" in their partnership and more will follow.

Spotify's partnership with Hulu will not deter its ambitions from producing original video content. Spotify hired Disney veteran Courtney Holt to lead its video and podcast programming. Holt's hire came days after his predecessor, Tom Calderone, quietly resigned from Spotify.

For Hulu, its partnership with Spotify gives it a musical edge over Netflix, which has spent more money producing original content than its competitors. Hulu recently added a live television subscription to attract those who want to see live shows and sporting events.

"We're very excited to be partnering with Hulu-a like-minded company which is as focused as we are on delivering the very best in high quality streaming content," said Spotify's chief premium business officer, Alex Norstrom.